Meg Mclain, a young, attractive New Hampshire woman was “randomly” picked for a body scan last week as she was trying to depart from the Ft. Lauderdale airport. The new body scanners are also referred to as “porno scanners”, because the images displayed reveal the passenger as nude. These body scanners have many people concerned with privacy. Transportation Security Administration states that the scanned images are blurry and black and white. They report that the images are never saved. However, the body scanners are able to save and send pictures. There are also health concerns. The body scanners deliver a low level of radiation to passengers. It is believed that they deliver 20 times more radiation than what was originally reported. Although the chance of developing skin cancer from the body scanner is very low, it would be higher in children and people with gene mutations. There are currently 134 body scanners at 38 airports in the United States. By next year, 1000 additional units will be deployed all over the country.
Mclain, a radio host for the libertarian leaning show “Free Talk Left”, was one of the people that did not feel comfortable with the invasion of privacy. She told the TSA screeners that she was uncomfortable with the scanner. On a radio interview this week, she explains the humiliation that followed. TSA agents immediately began yelling “Opt out” when she voiced her discomfort. They brought her to an area where they were going to proceed with new pat down techniques. Mclain was familiar with this technique and had some questions first. The technique is more invasive than physical molestation. TSA agents actually squeeze and twist breasts.
The agents were not very cooperative when Mclain asked some questions. They handcuffed her to a chair and began yelling at her. She was not in a private area and other passengers had to walk around her. The TSA agents called in 12 police officers because Mclain asked to speak to a supervisor. They lectured her for 30 minutes on terrorism while she remained cuffed to the chair. By this point, Mclain was crying and shaking. She was unable to wipe her face and felt utterly humiliated. The agents and officers would not allow her to touch her possessions. They eventually ripped her airline ticket in half. Four different agents had her ID and were writing down information, presumably to do a back ground check on her. After about an hour of verbal abuse, the police officers escorted Ms. Mclain to the ticketing counter where she had to find another way home since she had missed her flight.
All of this for what? Mclain was able to purchase a new ticket and fly again. The chances are, if the body scanner is really random, she won’t be picked again. Therefore, if she really was a terrorist, what exactly did we prevent? Our system is designed to stop terrorism. But it doesn’t. All it does is give people power to abuse and cause major inconveniences for passengers. Another horrifying issue issue with the body scanners. They have been used on children. A 12 year old girl was leaving Tampa with a friend and her friend’s parents. The “porno” scanner was used on her. The girl was traumatized when she returned to her home in Baltimore. In England, the body scanners are not allowed to be used on passengers under the age of 18 because it violates child pornography laws. There are all sorts of issues when you begin to scan children especially without parents present. Where is the line between protecting Americans and violating Americans in the name of protection? I think that line has been crossed long, long ago with the Patriot Act. Once the line is crossed, it will get easier and easier to violate civil liberties. Welcome to 1984. Please visit http://blog.tsa.gov/ for more information on that case as well as the actual CCTV coverage.
If you watch the TSA raw video footage, Ms. Mclain was in the air-side area of TSA security for about 10 minutes. She was never hand-cuffed (TSOs do not have cuffs), no one was speaking with her in a very aggressive manner and far less than 12 law enforcement officers (I believe it was two) were called to escort her from air-side back to the pre-screening area.
Of all the ‘enhanced pat down’ situations I have heard, I have never heard of any woman having their breasts twisted.
I cover the TSA extensively and take them to task when they need to be taken to task … but I also don’t believe the TSA should be blamed for things they are not doing. There is plenty the TSA needs to change or be challenged on … they don’t need false complaints.
Happy Flying!
-Steven Frischling
http://www.flyingwithfish.com
You should check out the actual footage of this event. Almost nothing this woman says is true.
Please post a link.
The video provided by theTSA is completely self-serving and does not focus on the woman in question. She is almost entirely off camera for the majority of it. You weren’t there so you have no idea if she is lying or not.
We have no idea what happened, however we can draw reasonable conclusions based on what we saw in the video compared to what she said. She claimed she was singled out and that no one else got scanned, yet people were scanned and patted down before and after her.
She claimed to be held there for an hour, surrounded by literally a dozen police officers, going so far as to say she counted them and hey, 12. The video shows her sitting in the screening area for less than 15 minutes before being escorted into a security room of some sort. She spent another 10 or so minutes there before being escorted out. I never saw the dozen officers she mentioned surrounding her at any point. There were a couple of officers escorting her out at the very end and some TSA personnel helping to carry her stuff, but that’s about as “surrounded” as she got.
She sat in the chair unhandcuffed, her legs and arms freely moving, able to wipe away her tears (a TSA agent even handed her a paper towel to wipe them with). She certainly made it sound like she was handcuffed in the screening area for everyone to see, rather than in the secluded security office.
The bottom line is, her story doesn’t add up and seems to be just sensationalized nonsense. There are plenty enough reasons to be against the TSA’s policies and procedures, without having someone invent a fictionalized account to incite the masses. Now that it’s pretty obvious she was (at best) exaggerating her claims, it’s easy for the other side to say “They can’t even find a real reason to be against this so they have to make stories up”. It’s a frustrating distraction from the real issue of privacy violation, presumed guilt, and the effectiveness of the security screenings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trQp6V8dx7A
“young attractive woman” – exaggeration
“handcuffed to a chair” – fabrication
“breasts twisted” – imagination
It’s a CCTV security footage, not a reality show, so she is not at the center of the shot. However, there’s enough to show that her story is untrue.
Thanks Nyctenant and Jim for providing the links!
The security video of the incident that lasted less then 30 minutes! Numerous people were also selected for the screening she wasn’t singles out. Its a rule that a new pair of gloves is unded each time someone gets patted down (that would be a good thing). She also had 3 TSA officers plus a TSA manger and 3 cops, not a dozen people. Cops had to be called in simply due to the scene that Meg was causing.
The one comment posted on the video on youtube is:
don’t see at any point where this woman was cuffed to a chair (she wiped her eyes and nose with one hand)..
Doesn’t look like she was being yelled at or anything. This is absurd of her to think she can get special treatment cause she’s beautiful and attractive. Saying no one else had to get in front of the stupid body scanner? It had a constant flow of people! One lady was even patted down and no “twisting” or “squeezing” of her breasts were done. TSA keep doing your job. Eff this stupid girl
I was a TSA agent in Seattle allow 3-4 people he knew bypass the checkpoint and after examining my California driver’s proceed to question me as to why I was traveling to California. He wasn’t satisfied with “I live there and returning home” These people need to go somewhere far far away.
I saw a TSA agent in Seattle allow 3-4 people he knew bypass the checkpoint and after examining my California driver’s proceed to question me as to why I was traveling to California. He wasn’t satisfied with “I live there and returning home” These people need to go somewhere far far away.
SEATAC checkpoints are not set up in a way that this scenario is possible. You were most likely bypassed by SIDA holders at the ticket checking station (who then proceeded to the searching stations) If you are going to spread lies, make them more plausible.
link to video is at tsa.gov/blog.